ICT Technology - Useful Technology for Enhancing the Educational System in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example

Table of Contents Table of Contents Introduction 2 Change Management 3 Organization of Change Management 5 Case study: Saudi Arabia Education System 6 Triangulation mixed method 8 Data Analysis and Results 9 References: 11 Introduction The world of the 21st century promotes an environment that sponsors rapid development and fast change. The fast emergence of various kinds of modern day technological gadgets along with the faster penetration of the internet in various corners of the world has resulted in the process of emergence of a highly connected single global entity. It has to be said that the single global entity promotes the concept of a connected global marketplace, where markets around the world are easily accessible to the buyers and sellers through a virtual medium. It has to be said that the global market place is largely responsible for the promotion and faster diffusion of various kinds of global trends to various corners of the world. As a result of diffusion of global trends to various markets around the world, demands of various nature are continuously rising from the markets and consumers located in the developing and developed economies. This essentially promotes a significant amount of business opportunity for various organizations around the world. Because of the rise of digitized communication trends, the barriers to accessing information of various markets around the world have become almost nonexistent and redundant. The ease of access of information by organizations around the world, are essentially encouraging them and providing them with the potential to move forward and enter into new markets. This is in return resulting in the process of increase of competition in the global marketplace. Companies and organizations around the world are increasingly feeling the pinch of this increase in competition in the marketplace. In order to stay competitive in the marketplace, the organizations are trying their best to inculcate various amounts of change in their daily business processes, thereby generate, and increase the efficiency of the business in the marketplace. This has resulted in the rise of importance for change management among the organizations. Change Management Change management has become very crucial in various organizations around the world that are increasingly looking forward to inculcate a change in its method of doing business. It has to be said that change management is very essential as it plays a crucial role for the purpose of attaining sustainable growth in the business while changing as per market conditions and requirements. While viewing change management from the theoretic and academic point of view, it is important to mention the fact that the change management denotes a broad arena of activities that is related to managing change at the workplace. The change management must focus on the process of integration on the lines of a range of elements which might comprise of communication, training , testing , implementation of the program as well as various new policies and procedures (Gustin, 2008, p. 209). It is of high importance to mention the fact that while trying to implement changes in an organization, it is necessary to design and implement the right tools that are required for effective management of change within the organization. It has to be said that the change management tools should be capable of addressing the requirements on the lines of identification of opportunity or problem, assessment of the organization, ability for project planning as well as preparation of sponsor, training and implementation (Pershing, 2006, p. 272). It is relevant to mention that the factors of change are largely dependent on a large number of variables. Talking in an elaborate manner, it can be said that the variables like nature and style of change , change consequence, history of the organization, nature of the individuals as well as individual history all plays a major role in identifying the possible outcome and response of a change that happens within the organization (Cameron and Green, 2012, p. 60). Source: Cameron and Green, 2012, p. 60 The variables can be elaborated in a broad manner. While discussing about the nature of the change, it is important to mention that it is variable in nature. While change can be internal in nature and can be a possible outcome of motivation on the other hand, the process can also be externally imposed on the employees of the organization. It has to be said that the different nature of change broadly determines the attitudes and behaviour demonstrated by the individuals. While trying to gauge the impacts of the change in the organization, it has to be said that the multiple stakeholders like employees, customers, communities etc. has to be taken into account. Also, the organizational past which highlights the company’s adoption and response to previous trends needs to be taken in to account. The variables which talks about the individuals nature as well as their individual backgrounds also needs to be taken into consideration, as this plays a major role in regards to estimating the level of effectiveness and impact that a change might have in the organization which is breeding ground of various kinds of individuals with various choices, preferences and taste. Organization Description of Change Management While talking about change management on the organizational context, the issue of Barclay’s response to change management needs to be mentioned. It is a known fact that Barclays was regarded as a underperformer around the 1990s. In addition, the financial institution largely became a potential target for a corporate takeover during the same period. However, it is important to mention that a series of efforts on the lines of change management, during the period of 2000 and 2003, resulted in a turnaround of the company. It has to be said that the top management increasingly realised that the company needs to focus on the processes of employee engagement as well as the satisfaction of the customers as they are potential arenas that will be providing growth in the future. It also has to be said that it was also expected focusing on these two lines will also boost the levels of profitability. During the course of change management, it has to be said that the top management realized that while the importance of effective and high quality financial performance is important, yet there has to be a significant amount of focus on the lines of human related strategies. While dealing with issues of turning around the company, in regards to effective performance, it has to be said that the management also tried to tackle the challenges related to low retention rates as well as poor succession planning for the organization. While trying to implement the processes of change within the organization, it has to be said that the top management focused on defining a metrics, which addressed the three main stakeholders of the organization like the customers, colleagues and communities. It is highly relevant to mention that this segmentation-based approach was largely done as an effort to understand the impact of the change within the organization. It can be said that this approach helped the organization to understand the broad nature of the problem. The top management as a result of this kind of a strategic implementation realized that the organization is largely focused on the performance of the short term. It is highly effective to communicate the fact that because of proper change management within the famous financial institution, the top management was greatly successful in diverting the focus from the financial results to various other dimension of the business that has significant amount of strategic importance (Price and Turnbull, 2005). Introduction of ICT into Education system Case study: Saudi Arabia Education System Education remains one of the economic development indicators in Saudi Arabia. This is evident in the continuous elements towards the development and enhancement of education. The application of recent technology is crucial to the growth and improvement of the educational system in Saudi Arabia. Implementation of ICT in Saudi Arabian education system is vital to the minimization of the stress levels that might be associated with teachers and student in the process of grasping knowledge. ICT also enhances the level of flexibility in the educational system thus improving the quality of education within the modern society. It is crucial to integrate technology effectively and efficiently within the educational system to improve on the quality of the output. Introduction of ICT is an example of change management that enhances and speeds up the operations, thus simplifying the work of the students and the entire management. ICT represents a multi-touch interactive learning aid designed effectively and efficiently for improving level of education. The application of technology in the education system offers the opportunity for primary pupils to interact, discuss, and share information in the process of grasping vital knowledge from their teachers. ICT enables the pupils to collaborate, discuss, and enhance their knowledge on the digital aspect of education. The students have the opportunity to explore digital lessons, participate in the educational games, and form teams as an element of working together in the search for relevant solutions. The technology is a multi-user in its design to enable numerous pupils to participate in the interaction and discussion at the same time. The current technology provides unlimited opportunity for students in relation to having fun and expressing elements of teamwork (Ghavifekr & Ghani 2011, p. 86). The application of networking system in the form of wireless connections enables students to share during the learning process. Teachers also have the opportunity to designing the learning objectives and activities within the table to enhance the process of transmitting information to the pupils. This implementation of technology is enjoying appreciation from the pupils and teachers in Saudi Arabia because of the ability to encourage connection between the learning stakeholders. The program is also durable in the design to facilitate education programs for different students. It is also straightforward in relation to its application thus enables the primary pupils to enhance their awareness within the surrounding. The process of learning becomes humorous through the ICT introduction as it enables the pupils to view the process of knowledge generation and acquisition as a playing game .The learning process also becomes inventive since the users has the ability to differentiate and personalize instructions with the aim of supporting a variety of learning styles in fun and engaging forms. The learning process is similar to playing environments whereby pupils interact with their teachers effectively and efficiently. This is vital towards the grasping of the crucial information from the between students and their teachers. The teachers and students develop important collaborations thus creating a virtual environment to foster learning process. It is beneficial for students to grasp the fundamental aspects of knowledge at initial stages to promote their development as they progress within the educational system. Application of ITC into education system provides the opportunity to ensure that each student has an equal chance of succeeding in the process of grasping essential knowledge. Prior to the introduction of ICT organizations, or rather educational institutions in Saudi Arabia suffered greatly from incompetence because of the errors resulting from use of manuals in every task handled. Adoption of ICT ushered in assisted in minimizing the barriers that limit the ability of pupils to learn and enjoy virtual aspect of knowledge. Methodology When effectively integrated into Saudi Education system, I.C.T has the capability to widen up and deepen education system. Additionally, Students obtains access to best information and quality instructional teachers. Suitable methodologies facilitates the success and maintenance of ICT into educational institutions Triangulation mixed method Engages both Qualitative and Quantitative Research analysis and it is the best preference over the single methodology because of the following reasons: Assists create a stronger path towards a critical analysis of I.C.T & Smart table integration into Education system. a. The research results are stronger when based on a variety of methods than when based on a single method. b. Mixed method is appropriate because it is easy to confirm, explain, and verify the data. c. This Method seeks uniformity & explicit evidence outcome from the different methods. d. It also produces quality outcome in terms of quality and scope. This methodology Triangulation intends to identify the factors related to integrating I.C.T in Saudi Arabia Education system. However, some factors inhibit the success of the methodology used, therefore, making it impossible to gather information and data using a variety of methods. Data collection Data collected comprised Qualitative data gathered via semi-structured interviews, and Quantitative data via Questionnaires. Data Analysis and Results ICT in the educational system of Saudi Arabia provides the opportunity for the primary pupils to learn together in the early education. The capacity to learn together is creative in nature since the pupils have the chance to express their knowledge within the peers. The pupils gain tremendously in the process of learning in the presence of other pupils. Learning process is creative in that the educational system has the quality to differentiate the instructions with the aim of supporting a variety of learning styles in a fun and engaging forms. The learning process is similar with the playing environment to enable pupils to interact with their teachers effectively and efficiently. This is vital towards the grasping of the crucial information from the between students and their teachers. The teachers and students develop vital collaborations thus creating a virtual environment to foster learning process. It is beneficial for students to grasp the fundamental aspects of knowledge at initial stages to promote their development as they progress within the educational system. Application of ICT provides the opportunity to ensure that each student has an equal chance of succeeding in the process of grasping vital knowledge Conclusion and Recommendations Change management is crucial to enhancing effectiveness in any business set-up, institution and/or organization. ICT in Education institutions is an emerging technology that has improved the quality of education. This paper argues that ICT technology has the potential to be a useful technology for enhancing the educational system in Saudi Arabia. The educational system provides students with equal opportunity to improve their understanding and grasping of relevant concepts. It is crucial for students to enjoy full benefits of the application of technology within the educational system in order to achieve both social and academic goals. In summary, ICT technology enables the creation of learning environments that encourages creativity, teamwork, participation, and interaction between students and teachers. The technology is also essential in relating the physical world to the classroom set-up. This is important for the overall development of the students in areas such as cognition and academic growth. SMART Table set-up also offers the opportunity for students to enhance their scope of pursuit of knowledge thus the perfect scenario to develop effectively and efficiently. Since technology is essential in so many areas of life in the 21st Century and therefore it is ICT important for new technologies to be integrated into learning environments, the implementation of within the Saudi Arabian educational system is worthy of serious consideration. As discussed in this paper, this can enhance the students’ participation in the learning activities, and it is recommended that ICT should be applied in the illustration of complex concepts and collaborative learning within a range of learning areas. This would assist the process of students’ acquisition and generation of knowledge. It is also important to promote the adoption of the ICT in the educational system to assist teachers in their task of planning for the lessons for all students through catering for the diversity of student learning needs and learning styles. 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